WHITE PLAINS CITIZENETREPORTER 3,374,995 VISITS IN ONE YEAR—65,000 VISITS A WEEK BY 985,281 VISITORS

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WPCNR TIN PAN ALLEY. From John Forster. November 9, 2004: Last night at the White Plains Performing Arts Center, Philip Cutrone’s impression of Mayor Joseph Delfino of White Plains convulsed the multitudes at the First Anniversary Gala. Mr. Cutrone sang the following song, White Plains, White Plains, composed by John Forster.

HIZZONNER — Phil Cutrone does an impression of Mayor Delfino, with composer John Forster at the keyboard Monday evening. Photo by WPCNR StageCam

Mr. Forster said he and Mr. Cutrone sat down with Mayor Delfino and interviewed him about White Plains, and that’s how he came up with the song. You had to have been there, but for the world here is White Plains, White Plains, the Mayor Delfino Song, reprinted with permission of Mr. Forster who retains the copyright:

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WPCNR PEN, QUILL & EYESHADE. By John F. Bailey. November 9, 2004: By a rough rule of thumb, the WPPAC was about 80% full last night. Depending on the depth and content of the pockets of Mr. and Mrs. Well-Heeled White Plains who attended, and how much production costs were waived, the WPPAC may realize $70,000 out of the event, and depending on silent auction receipts could reach between $90,000 and $100,000.

WPPAC ANGELS Filled the Hall Monday Evening at the White Plains Performing Arts Center Gala Cocktail  Hour. Photo by WPCNR StageCam

$100,000 Handle Before Expenses An Outside Possibility.

The catering was donated by Legal Seafood, Morton’s Steakhouse and Zanaro’s for the cocktail hour and the dessert After-Show coffee.  Here’s what the handle looks like:

Assume 100 seats (first five or six rows) sold at $250: $25,000

Assume an additional 250 seats sold at $150 each:  $37,500

Advertising did appear in the Programs given out at the WPPAC performance but the advertisements were included as part of the ticket deal for some of the advertisers.  However, let us assume most ads were paid at $600 a page, $300 a half-page.

In the two programs there are 30-1/4 pages of advertising at approximately $600 a page for $18,150 of advertising.

So if only a handful of advertisers received free half-pages if they purchased two tickets, then the rough handle adds up to approximately $80,650, right on Paul Wood’s rough estimate to the CitizeNetReporter.  That is before expenses to stage the show:

$150 Tickets:                      $37,500

$250 Tickets:                      $25,000

Advertising, 30-1/4 Pages: $18,150

Estimated House Gross      $80,650

Silent Auction a Sleeper.

Another source of revenue to add to this is the silent auction in which 25 experiences, items, and services were bid on by the gala attendees, with a total minimum bid value of $17,370.

Among the items bid were a round of golf with Donald Trump and Frank Gifford for $5,000; Kathie Lee Gifford’s Manolo Blahnik spike heels, $500; Season Tickets to New York Giants Football in 2005-06; a $1,000 gift certificate to Mary Jane Denzer’s; a Mohonk Mountain House Getaway for $500; a Teeth Whitening Treatment from Dr. Jeffrey Schlotman, the Singing Dentist in White Plains; Enrollment in WPPAC’s Youth Theater Summer Camp in 2005, $600; Two-Months Membership in New York Sports Club, $600;  Four Tickets to Under The Bridge and other gifts from local restaurants, and services.

 If all items went at the minimum bids or did better than minimum the “Gross” could reach $100,000. If the theatre lays off production expenses on other sources, the net could approach the six figures.

Broadway Bright Lights, Actress/Singer Rita Harvey, Center and William Michals, right, stayed after the show to schmooz with patrons. Here the stars talk with Mrs. Joseph Delfino, left. Photo by WPCNR StageCam.

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WPCNR TABLE 50. By John F. Bailey. November 9, 2004: In the crush of the White Plains Performing Arts Center Gala Cocktail Hour Monday evening, a lot was going on.  Everybody was working the angles as White Plains Performing Arts Center was injected with a new transfusion of green blood from White Plains’ Rich and Famous.

IN THE SCHMOOZ ZONE were Louis Cappelli, center,  The Super Developer,  Commissioner of Planning Susan Habel, (left), and the charismatic  Martin Ginsburg (second from right) of Ginsburg Development Corporation exchanging pleasantries. Just three weeks ago, Mr. Ginsburg had complained strongly to the Common Council that they should use eminent domain to take the Corner Nook-Main Street Bookstore-Deli building that Cappelli now owns. Now, Mr. Cappelli reports he has made a deal with Mr. Ginsburg to allow the Pinnacle to proceed. Photo by WPCNR News.

Louis Cappelli told WPCNR when asked if he and Mr. Ginsburg were working on the differences they have over Mr. Ginsburg’s plan for the Pinnacle, and Mr. Cappelli’s concern for his views from Trump Tower at City Center, “There’s a meeting of the minds there somewhere.”

Martin Ginsburg at the Common Council Work Session in October, presenting his Pinnacle Building on Main Street. A 24-Story 148-Unit luxury condominium, priced from $450,000 for a 900-square foot one-bedroom to $2.5 Million for 3,700 square foot penthouses. Photo by WPCNR News.

After the gala was over, the Super Developer provided more details on a possible accommodation with Mr. Ginsburg.

“Here’s the deal:”

Cappelli told WPCNR he liked Mr. Ginsburg’s concept of sidewalk café restaurants across from the entrance of City Center on City Place. Cappelli announced he’s willing to relinquish the Corner Nook-Deli-Main Street Bookstore property (which he owns) to Mr. Ginsburg if Mr. Ginsburg lowers the height of his proposed Pinnacle Condominium-Retal-Plex from 280 feet (24 stories) to 230 feet.

Cappelli said he wants to protect the upper story views from the Trump Tower at City Center which soars 340 feet.

THE PINNACLE, Main Street View. Photo by WPCNR News

Asked if Mr. Ginsburg’s new plans showed a decrease in the height, Cappelli said it was his understanding that the building would be lowered to 23 stories.

Ginsburg Office Has Not Changed Plans on File with Building Department.

Mr. Ginsburg’s office was contacted for comment by WPCNR Tuesday morning, and Bill Madden, President of Madden Communications & Marketing,  a spokesperson for Ginsburg Development Corporation returned the call.

Madden said that as of last Monday, GDC had submitted a request to the city to condemn the corner parcel  and would have no further comment while the city is reviewing that request. Madden said the plans GDC had submitted to the Building Department were unchanged from when originally submitted.

WPCNR asked Madden if this meant GDC was neither confirming nor denying the deal exits, and Madden said, “right.”

A source in the GDC offices originally contacted by WPCNR did confirm the offer exists, saying the height change was from 280 feet down to 230 feet. Asked how the building would change, the source said the building woul take 50 feet off the top (50 feet), and make the building wider.

Wood: City Center Garage rights being arranged to pump up square footage.

Mr. Ginsburg’s request of the Common Council to give him access to portions of the City Center Garage to acquire the square footage he needs to build The Pinnacle project (in addition to the Nook-Deli-Bookstore building) is now being looked on favorably by the city.

Paul Wood, City Executive Officer, told WPCNR Friday that Mr. Ginsburg was advised by the Building Department he had to submit that request to the Urban Renewal Agency, not the Common Council as the appropriate method of aquiring that square footage. He is now going through that process and requesting the square footage from the Urban Renewal Agency.

Mr. Madden, when asked about this new process of going to Urban Renewal and whether it was underway, said he would get back to WPCNR.

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WPCNR Phantom of the Arts. By John F. Bailey. November 9, 2004, Updated 2:00 A.M. E.S.T.: If WPPAC Producing Director Tony Stimac put together impromptu benefits as regular fare at the White Plains Performing Arts Center, the Little Theatre Ingenue on City Place  would soon be The Place to go and be seen. Broadway Salutes White Plains II staged to attract Mr. and Mrs. Well-Heeled White Plains, drew a great crowd of glitterati who filled the WPPAC almost to its capacity.

A financial total was not immediately available, but City Executive Officer Paul Wood estimated it made the theatre at least $80,000, and said it was better attended than the gala last year. WPCNR would agree with that. The cocktail hour was packed when your reporter arrived at 6:15 P.M. with the good taste people dining on oysters and d’oeuvres from Legal Seafood and choice cuts from Morton’s Steakhouse.

THE MAYOR CAN DANCE: Kathie Lee Gifford and White Plains Mayor Joseph Delfino trip the White Plains Fantastic as Rob Evan, star of Jekyll and HYde sings  White Plains, New York to the tune of New York, New York, at Monday night’s gala benefitting the White Plains Performing Arts Center. The benefit saluted Mayor Delfino with a terrific parody tune “White Plains Have We Got Plans for You,” and featured choice stars from Broadway belting out showstopp-as from their hit productions.  Photo by WPCNR StageCam.

WALL-TO-WALL PATRONS OF THE ARTS: Half the balcony outside White Plains Performing Arts Center was filled with a crush of White Plains rich and famous, who turned out to support the theatre on its First Anniversary, who stayed and saw a show of easy-going, high gloss entertainment paced just right. Kathie Lee Gifford and her husband Frank, (whom the Giants could use this weekend, he looks like he could still play), were genial gracious hosts lending an upbeat contemporary atmosphere. Ms. Gifford sang a song from her show Under the Bridge which opens on Broadway January 1. Photo by WPCNR StageCam.

SING MY ANGEL OF MUSIC: Show Stopper of the night was Rita Harvey, left, recreating her role of Christine from Phantom duetting with Jekyll and Hyde star, Rob Evan singing a reprise of Phantom of the Opera.  The stars came out for White Plains. Megan Hilty and Flo Lacey performed their hit Popular from Wicked; William Michaels flew in from Atlanta to sing the Mayor’s favorite tune, The Impossible Dream and the inspirational song, Stars. Photo by WPCNR StageCam.

“I WANT TO MATTER,” Kathie Lee Gifford performing a showstopper-to-be from her upcoming musical premiering in July at White Plains Performing Arts Center. If this song is an indication about the kind of score to be expected from Hurricane Aimee, Ms. Gifford’s musical about the activist Aimee Semple McPherson, the evangelist of the early part of the twentieth century, White Plains is in for show in July.  

Photo by WPCNR StageCam.

GOD BLESS WHITE PLAINS: William Michals, “The Beast” from Beauty and the Beast,  “Official Resident Star” of the WPPAC, leads the stars in God Bless America to conclude Monday evening’s gala. To right of Mr. Michaels are Kathy Lee and Frank Gifford, Emcees of the Evening. From left are dancers Jason Colancio, Katie Boyle,  and Robert Royston and  Nicola Royston of Swango, upcoming WPPAC production in May;  Kristy Cates and Meg Hilty of Wicked, Mr. Michaels, Ms. Gifford, Mr. Gifford,  Neil Berg, Musical Director, Rob Evans of Jekyll and Hyde, Flo Lacey (in red) of Under the Bridge (Ms. Gifford’s soon-to-premier musical), Rita Harvey of Wicked, and Rupert Holmes. Photo by WPCNR StageCam.

The comedy highlight of the show was Philip Cutrone(an actor in the upcoming A Christmas Carol at WPPAC), doing a dead-on impersonation of Mayor Joseph Delfino, beginning his routine with a “Sorry, I’m late, but I had to go to a funeral, actually 2 funerals and a wedding,” which brought down the house. Then Mr. Cutrone sang a song written for the show, called “White Plains, Have We Got Plans for You” in which lyrics sing about Mayor Revitalization Plans 4,5,6, and 7, a stadium, an opera house, and a jetport. “Repawtas” on media row smiled with glee, while the audience yukked it up. The show was a Stimac Smash. Well thought-out, brilliantly paced, and all that a gala should be.  

A White Plains Theme

The audience was also treated to an original composition, Renaissance Concerto, composed and played by Jordan Rudess, the keyboardist of the rock band, Dream Theater.

Mr. Rudess presented a dignified, elegant, majestic piece which flowed with the orchestration of an organized plan, much like a White Plains site plan, invoking the development of White Plains, the piece gained in momentum, fury and complexity,  with growing magnificence  as the piece progressed, built, grew, one theme on top of another, a finishing with a heavy baroque flourish.

Rupert Holmes sang the Pina Colada Song he wrote twenty-five years ago.

The talent was exceptional. The combo under the musical direction of Neil Berg, worked well with the entertainers. It was a Stimac triumph of pace, humor, and talent, blended into a tasteful buffet of Broadway.

The Producer, Tony Stimac, Producing Director of the White Plains Performing Arts Center, with Emcees, Kathie Lee Gifford, Honoree Mayor Joseph Delfino, and Frank Gifford, the Giant’s Giant. The Giffords graciously posed with a steady stream of White Plains celebrities for some time just before the entertainment commenced. Photo by WPCNR StageCam.

Ms. Gifford and Mr. Gifford added a aura of class, concern and genuine warmth. Ms. Gifford’s reminisces about her father and how he inspired her were particularly a human touch, as she explained a personal insight as to what led her to write her musical Under the Bridge.

Ms. Gifford showed her gift for comedy, with a great line.  She confided that she had lunch with the Mayor at Trotters three weeks ago, it lasted four hours. She said she could have purchased an apartment before lunch and made “a million and a half dollars by the time lunch was over.” This got some good yuks from the real estate crowd in the audience.

Mayor Delfino with William Michals after the show.Afterwards coffee and dessert were enjoyed by the well-entertained patrons, while the stars mingled with the critical masses of White Plains.  Photo by WPCNR StageCam.

The Party Continues.

But, people were having so much fun, they did not want the evening to end.

Mayor Joseph Delfino was seen enjoying himself at Trotters after the gala, regaling about 20-25 persons just out of the show. Readers of WPCNR may recall there was to have been a private supper party hosted by Louis Cappelli and the Head of HRH Construction in honor of the Mayor at Trotters, but that was cancelled due to “overwhelming response.”

At the Sign of The “T:” The Action Continues at Trotters, The Official Deal-Making Spot in White Plains. Photo by WPCNR News.

Your reporter encountered Paul Wood, Executive Officer for the Mayor, arriving at the “Sign of the T” for the an apparently impromptu, spontaneous, ad-hoc get-together at Trotters.

I asked Mr. Wood if the “Cancelled” party was going on even though it was cancelled.

Wood, said it was cancelled “because the Mayor didn’t know anything about it.”

Asked if the checks for the cancelled supper party had been held or refunded or whether patrons of the party had been promised the party would be held again, Wood said he would check with Mr. Stimac. A lady associate of Mr. Woods, volunteered that  the information that persons who had sent in checks for the “cancelled” supper party, (at $500 a person) had been offered a choice of taking an advertisement in the program, if they wished or a return of their checks.  

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Journal. November 8, 2004: City Hall Executive Officer Paul Wood described Friday to WPCNR how Wal-Mart came to “The Shoppes On Main,” the stackmall being created next door to City Hall.

Paul Wood, City Executive Officer, left. Photo by WPCNR News.

Wood said Mayor Joseph Delfino held discussions with Anthony Ditomasso, head of Ivy Equities, when Delfino first heard Wal-Mart was considering space at Ivy Equities leased space at the old Sears center. Mr. Wood said the Mayor suggested that the City Center residences going up could use a supermarket, and that Wal-Mart agreed to put in a supermarket as part of their space at the suggestion of the Mayor. Mayor Delfino had originally been opposed to Wal-Mart coming in on the thinking it would be competitive to Target.

Mayor Joseph Delfino Suggested Supermarket to make Wal-Mart fit in better with Downtown Needs, according to Mr. Wood.  Photo, WPCNR News Archive.

Mr. Wood said the Wal-Mart general merchandise section would be on the first floor (basement floor) below street level (formerly the floor where McDonald’s was located. The supermarket would be on the second floor. Wood said the supermarket would be about 4,000 square feet on the 40,000 square foot second floor, but Wal-Mart has yet to confirm that. Wal-Mart has a prototype store format they call Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market, that features 40,000 square feet of grocery, pharmacy and fresh produce, meats, bakery, and dry goods selection. The way Mr. Wood described the White Plains Wal-Mart grocery it would be smaller in scale.

Mr. Wood also said that Wal-Mart was in the process of putting together an upscale design on the exterior of the supermarket floor that would feature a new logo treatment and be attractive. He said Wal-Mart had agreed to “enhance their look.” He said that Wal-Mart would have to submit a “traffic plan” to the Building Department as part of their plans. Presently the Sears garage is accessed off of Hamilton Avenue, off of Main Street and from North Broadway (Southbound).

He confirmed that Wal-Mart did not need Common Council approval of their building plans.

THE WAL-MART WATCH: Target’s archrival has taken space (2 82,000 sq. foot floors) in the former Sears location across the street from City Center, home of Target. The rumors of Wal-Mart eyeballing the space first surfaced in August. Mayor Joseph Delfino went on record at the time as saying he preferred Wal-Mart, (an arch competitor of Target) not rent the space, now the Mayor has devised an acceptable plan. Photo by WPCNR News